Fall time is just
around the corner. I start thinking about soups and stews to feed my family.
They just seem to go hand in hand with the cool months of the year. One of my
favorites is chicken soup. Chicken soup from scratch is very easy to make!
Here is a step by step photo tutorial to show you how to make this yummy meal
for your family.

To begin with you
will need one whole chicken and salt.

Put your chicken in
a large stock or soup pot. Mine is a 14 quart size pot, but it is a little on
the big size for the job. An 8 or 10 quart stock pot would most likely work
just fine.

Now add 1 Ĺ gallons
of water.

Add 2T of salt

Bring your chicken
and water to a boil

Turn down the heat,
cover and let is simmer for a few hours (2 to 4 hours or so) I never really time
it I just cook until my chicken has kind of fallen apart.

Now it is time to
separate the chicken and broth. I do this by putting a large pan (large enough
to hold all the broth) in my sink

Then I put a
colander inside the pan to catch the chicken

I pour the broth and
chicken into the colander.

I remove the chicken
and set this aside to cool.

Return the broth
back into the stock pot

Now it is time to make soup!

You will need about
4 to 5 cups of pasta. You can use any type of pasta you would like. Egg noodles
are traditional but I like to use the rainbow rotini pasta that I get from my
food co-op. You will also need one large onion and a few carrots (amount is up
to you).

Chop up the onion
and carrots

Add them to your
broth

Bring this to a boil
and add your spices. I add 1T chicken broth powder that I buy from my food
co-op and about 1t of poultry seasonings. After it has come to a boil cover the
pan and let this simmer for about 1 hour or until the veggies are tender.

While that is
simmering you can debone your chicken. Remove all the meat from the bones and
discard the bones.

When the cooking
time is up add your chicken meat and pasta to the soup.

Let this simmer for
about 12 to 15 minutes. Now you can taste it to see if you need to add any more
salt. I typically donít add any thing else. Serve this yummy meal to your
family with a salad and some whole grain crackers and enjoy!! J